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Sudoku: the Addictive Numbers Game
By Beth Rodio | Image from Official Site
I know... it doesn't look like fun...
"It's fun. It's challenging. It's addictive!"
Rarely is self-advertisement so true.
Sudoku: the Addictive Numbers Game
Strictly, Sudoku is not a video game in
the accepted definition of the term. It has no blood, car chases, sex, money,
or plot. It is merely one big puzzle, reminiscent of Minesweeper.
Sudoku is a nine-by-nine grid where each line, both vertical and horizontal, must contain all nine numbers. Some are filled in at the start; it is the player's job to discover what numbers the blank spaces hold.
Although this description sounds simplistic at best and boring at worst,
trust me, Sudoku is neither facile nor uninteresting. Sudoku
creates that single-minded intensity caused by games like Snood
(I'm not sure if I wrote any papers that year uninterrupted by the sweet
siren song of the "BUH-dump" of the Snood ball). Although it doesn't
involve math, Sudoku requires logical thinking. Players may find
themselves biting their lips and unintentionally muttering audibly "OK so
if I need a nine here and there is a seven already in that line…"
Sudoku is originally a Japanese game (in America puzzlers sometimes
call it "Number Place") computerized. Slate.com reports that "Wayne Gould,
[is] the guy behind the Sudoku.com Web site. A retired Hong Kong judge,
Gould first spotted Sudoku in Japan and was instantly hooked. He created
a computer program that will compose new sudoku puzzles on demand. Then
he walked into the Times of London offices without an appointment and convinced
them to run his puzzles. Gould syndicates his Sudoku grids for
free, on the theory that he'll rake in money from books and the computer
program. The Economist quotes him guessing he'll make $1 million in sudoku
revenues this year."
The best part about Sudoku is that it is totally solvable, yet
difficult enough that the effort seems worth it at the end. And they let
you do that free trial download thing that was the downfall of the Snood
makers.
Check out www.sudoku.com
to play.
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Beth Rodio
Sources: Image from Official Site
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